Fort Getty campers help local business

There was a very lengthy story in the last issue concerning the discussions of the council about the future of Fort Getty (Sept. 8, 2011: “Support for Fort Getty referendum emerges”). It appears the response to the charrette of about 100 people hardly represent a majority so those opinions are not important.

Missing in the discussion were any financial numbers. My research found that some years ago the total revenue from the mobile home campers was about $334,000. After operation expenses, there was about $231,000 clear. This money was put in to the general fund with an allocation for the Parks and Recreation Department even though that money should have gone to finance recreation as the Harbor Management Commission is funded.

There was a plan submitted a number of years ago to improve and beautify Fort Getty, which was approved by the Town Council, but never implemented. This plan included a landscaping improvement and the planting of trees. Nothing happened.

There is another important consideration that has not been discussed. There are about 120 mobile homes at Fort Getty every summer. Most of the them return year after year. With at least two people for each site, that’s 240 people who patronize local businesses. No one knows how much they contribute to the local economy, but it is significant. The local pizza parlors, grocery store, hardware store, restaurants, gas stations and many other local businesses all benefit from these paying guests in our town. For all of these reasons, do not send them away.